Vanquish is a true cinematic science
fiction gaming experience and from the very first moments, it’s like you
are part of some big budget Hollywood action movie. The gameplay of
Vanquish is a third person shooter that is oozing with action as you
battle an almost unending supply of robots. In Vanquish, gamers are
turned into special agent Sam Gideon, a clichéd military man who
is gruffer than gruff and more man than you’ll ever be! In this future
world, the US and the Russians are attempting to gain the upper hand of
the last resources of the planet. In order to find alternate power
sources, the Americans build a space satellite to capture the suns rays
but when it's hijacked by the Russians, they destroy San Francisco in
order to force the Americans to surrender. Not on Sam Gideon's watch my
friend... not on his watch.

The gameplay of Vanquish is quite unique
and the developers have ensured that you don’t know what’s going to come
up next so you’re always on edge. Enemies are quite varied and diverse;
each with their own strategies that sometimes gives you the proverbial
spanner as you face all shapes and sizes of your robotic enemies.
Nothing is more fun than fighting ground robots and then you need to
fight the skies as they come from the heavens. Then you have the boss
battles that can be quite challenging as the fire fights use more
ammunition than the American military. Best of all, it's all fast
fast fast! Nothing is slow paced in this game and even the breather
segments, just barely allow you to catch your breath.

In terms of game completion, most people
will be able to knock this game over in around 10 hours, veterans even
less and although it’s a little on the short side, it’s actually one of
the more satisfying experiences for its endless action this year. The control
system is well mapped on the 360 controller with a subtle hint of force
feedback during the battle. With a combination of buttons and the analog
stick, it’s actually quite a competent configuration system that will
save your skin on more than one occasion.

For me, the game is reminiscent to Gears of
War but just imagine that game on fast forward and that is the
experience you will have in Vanquish. Another game Vanquish reminds me
of is Split/Second through its similar quick-time events as buildings and
bridges collapse around you as your gunning your way through enemies in
not only to save your hide but get to the next check point. Your
character also has access to a high-tech suit that contains boosters and
a slow motion (AR) mode that is great to mix up during combat. Your suit
is the key to this game and can become quite powerful at times in order
to take on the bosses.

The game contains a decent cover
system but movement and speed is how you will obtain victory. To throw
another spanner in the works, this time for player, you can upgrade
weapons that do help balance the ante. In terms of weapons, you have
access to one weapon which morphs into one of three different types such
as the sniper rifle. Additional mods are available on the battlefield to
help keep the gameplay fresh and as an incentive to player to search for
the environment for more goodies. Another cool aspect of the game is
that when you’re about to die or you're extremely low on health, the AR mode
takes over as you attempt to dodge bullets and get yourself to safety to
recover. Imagine Matrix bullet-time as you scamper to get away.

Graphically, the title is highly detailed
and features some decent character modelling and some lush environments.
As the gameplay is quite frantic, the silky smooth frame rate only
assists in the overall experience. There’s great attention to detail and
gaming environments look quite realistic at times. The slow motion
effects look good and even though it has been done before, thanks to Max
Payne and The Matrix, it has this nice effect in Vanquish which looks
quite surreal. The highlight with the graphics, apart from the well
designed models is the special effects that are bigger than Ben Herr
which look visually quite impressive on FULL HD. Voice acting is clichéd and
contrived in Vanquish but ironically it suits the fast paced gameplay,
especially the gruff Gideon.
The soundtrack is just as fast as the gameplay that sounds phenomenal
through a surround sound system and nicely compliments the gameplay.

In all these highly anticipated games for
2010, Vanquish actually delivered whereas some other games have not.
This science fiction third person shooter is a fast and furious
experience and nothing is more satisfying than taking down all these
crazy designed robots. The story is a little lame but fun, however the
gameplay more than makes up for this and at the end of the day, when
you’ve finished playing, you will be craving for more Vanquish! The only
downside is that the game is a little short but Yeah-har... what a
blast!